SPAIN - Madrid 2

Tuesday was my final day in Madrid. Russ had work through Friday, but I had decided to return home Wednesday so my Mom could get back to her job, and also because I didn't feel the need to spend 5 whole days exploring Madrid by myself.

After looking at my options for the morning, I chose to return to the Royal Palace and pay the entrance fee to see the inside. Very happy with that decision. Unfortunately, photos were only allowed outside and in the main entry, so I am limited to telling, rather than showing, how incredible it was. 

I paid an extra 4 euros for an audio guide to take along with me through the palace. Good decision. It was much more interesting to learn about the rooms and the artwork, etc. than to just see room after room filled with expensive and unimaginably ornate items. Each room was decorated differently, and I don't think I saw a square foot of wall or flooring or curtain or table or sofa or clock or dish that wasn't finely made. They don't have just regular walls. They're all covered in embroidered silk, or ancient tapestries, or famous paintings, or hand-crafted carvings. 

I was also happy to have the audio guide because otherwise I think I would have missed out on one of my favorite parts: the armory. The armory is accessed from a corner of the courtyard that isn't prominently marked, so I think many visitors probably don't go down there. I REALLY wanted to take a picture in there. It was just cool to walk into this huge room filled with armor and weaponry. It was all displayed very formally, too. Like there were life-size horse models covered with armor, and soldiers mounted on them. And interestingly, there were also full suits of child-size armor. My audio guide informed me that these were sometimes offered as gifts for the royal children from other rulers.

This main lobby of the palace was the only place were could take photos inside. 

So the palace was really neat. And I was so glad I decided to return and do the tour.

Another "living statue" just outside the palace. (Can you imagine holding that stance?!)

Can you guess which dessert is mine and which is Russ's? :)

After meeting up with Russ for lunch I went back to the hotel for a bit to rest and then I walked the streets for a little while until Russ was finished.

We had already decided we wanted to go to Parque de El Retiro that evening. It's a really big, and very popular public park area in Madrid.

I loved this little lake and all the people out on the water in paddle boats.

I assume this is the same in many European cities, but there aren't like big chain restaurants. Instead, there are tons and tons of small bakeries and cafes and bars and other places to eat. And many of them have tables set up outside, as in the photo below. 

For my last dinner in Spain Russ insisted we try the "tapas" experience. Tapas indicates small plates of food, like appetizers. It's common for a restaurant to have a tapas section of the menu and an option to order 6 or 8 or 10 of the choices (depending on how many people are sharing it), and that's your meal. It was a fun way to try a lot of different things. 

As we were walking back to our hotel after dinner Russ suddenly realized that there was an item on my Spain bucket list that I had not yet checked off: churros con chocolate. Some of our friends recently went to Barcelona and posted at least twice on Facebook about eating "churros con chocolate". I had told Russ that was something I definitely wanted to try while in Spain. 

So, even though we had just finished dinner, we stopped in a little diner and asked if they offered my desired dish. They did! And I'm very glad we stopped. So yummy. 

And, that's the end. I successfully made it to the airport on my own the following morning and bid a fond farewell to Espana. 

So happy I was able to go. And especially that I was able to go with Russ.